Jaroslav Hašek

Jaroslav Hašek was born in Prague on April 30, 1883. Living an anarchic, bohemian life of practical jokes, dog breeding, and café debates, Hašek founded the satirical 'Party of Moderate Progress Within the Bounds of the Law' in 1911.

Drafted into the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I, he surrendered to Russian forces and later joined the Czechoslovak Legions. Dictating on his deathbed in Lipnice nad Sázavou, he created The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk, whose cheerful literal obedience dismantles the insanity of military authority, translated into 60 languages.